| Title | Potential Countermeasures to Mitigate Suicides on the Railroad Rights-of-Way |
|---|---|
| Record ID | 52567 |
| Personal Name Creator |
Gabree, Scott; Chase, Stephanie; Doucette, Ann; Coplen, Michael |
| Source | Proceedings of the 2014 Global Level Crossing Symposium, 4-8 August 2014, Urbana IL,; 9p. |
| Corporate Creator | John A. Volpe National Transportation Systems Center (U.S.); George Washington University; United States. Department of Transportation. Federal Railroad Administration |
| Publisher | John A. Volpe National Transportation Systems Center (U.S.) |
| Publication Date | 20140804 |
| Language | English |
| Abstract | In 2010, 38,364 individuals intentionally ended their lives in the United States (US).1 It is estimated that less than 1% of these individuals took their life on the railroad rights-of-way. Despite the infrequency of this type of event they can have a great impact not only for the individual involved and their family and friends, but also for train crews, first responders, and bystanders. The railroad carriers also experience impact from these incidents through scheduling delays, and the potentially debilitating physical and psychological effects on those involved in the incident. Suicides on the railroad rights-of-way represent a large proportion of all railroad fatalities. In 2012, 242 fatalities on the railroad rights-of-way were determined by a coroner or medical examiner to be suicides. During that same time period, the railroad industry experienced 429 trespasser fatalities and 192 grade crossing fatalities that were not determined to be suicides, indicating that suicides were the second leading cause of death on the railroad rights-of-way in 2012. Research has investigated countermeasures to mitigate suicide in a general sense (i.e., not railway specific suicides, but suicides by all means). The FRA Office of Research and Development made an effort to document suicide countermeasure strategies which have been implemented or conceived for implementation in the railroad environment worldwide. The focus of this paper is to increase the reader's knowledge about the potential benefits and limitations that a specific countermeasure may impose for the railroads specific circumstances. This document is a summary of a more comprehensive paper that is expected to be published later in 2014. |
| Rosap ID | dot:12097 |
| Rosap URL | https://rosap.ntl.bts.gov/view/dot/12097 |
| TRT Terms | Suicide; Countermeasures; Safety education; Safety campaigns; Railroad safety; Trespassers; Warning devices; Training programs; Detection and identification systems; Human factors |
| Classification | AGR - SAFETY AND SECURITY - SAFETY AND SECURITY; NTL - RAIL TRANSPORTATION - RAIL TRANSPORTATION; NTL - RAIL TRANSPORTATION - Rail Safety; NTL - RAIL TRANSPORTATION - Rail Planning and Policy; NTL - SAFETY AND SECURITY - Human Factors; NTL - SAFETY AND SECURITY - Rail Safety; NTL - SAFETY AND SECURITY - SAFETY AND SECURITY |
| Geographical Coverage |
United States |
| Report Number | GLXS2014-1040 |
| Availability | Volpe National Transportation Systems Center, Technical Reference Center |
| Resource type | Research Paper |
| URL | https://ntlrepository.blob.core.windows.net/lib/52000/52500/52567/GLXS2014-1040_FRA_RD_Suicide_Countermeasures.pdf |
| Format | |
| Database | NTL Digital Repository |